December 31st, 2009

Online education has infiltrated our society in such a way that it is nearly impossible to turn a corner (literal or proverbial) without running into some reminder of the new realm in education.  While questions remain to be answered concerning the content of online courses, the fact remains that these courses have provided students with a valuable asset in the past decade in earning many different forms of degrees.

Surprisingly, many higher-tiered schools were among the first to offer online classes, such as Columbia and MIT, as other public schools such as Penn State began to climb upon the bandwagon years later.  These schools only offered a handful of online courses, mainly to students studying abroad, but also to students who wanted a simple taste of what the classes at each respective university were like.  After Congress passed a law allowing federal funding to schools that were nearly exclusively online institutions, more schools began offering online classes, even leading to “true” online colleges that lack campuses and offer the entirety of their degree programs via the internet. 

This is indeed a new era of technology and it is not without its critics.  Many educators believe that students cannot gain full knowledge in every subject by solely taking online classes, but for many students, this is a welcome relief to their busy schedules.  As many backers of online colleges have contended, we are living in a fast-paced world where there is little time to attend classes in a traditional classroom setting; for those students constantly on the go, online education offers them the opportunity to attend class no matter what continent they are on (as long as they have an internet connection!).  While many of the critics maintain that subjects such as the sciences and even English cannot be taught online without interaction, many online colleges have developed methods that are applicable to students of nearly any field.  This is not to say that traditional schools are on the verge of fading away; this is hardly the truth.  Instead, online colleges have formed a new manner in which to either take both traditional and online classes from different schools or to maintain a career while still earning a new degree.

The purpose of online colleges is not to slowly replace traditional colleges but is to offer education opportunities to students around the world who otherwise would not have had the same prospects only a decade ago.  As technology continues to advance, online colleges will probably infiltrate our society moreso than they already have, but it is important to remember that this transition will not disrupt the centuries old tradition of attending class for many students. 

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